Thursday, February 24, 2011

old favorite rediscovered: Tracy Chapman

I had forgotten for a long time that I liked listening to Tracy Chapman. She has always sparked a chord within me. The following lyrics are incredibly familiar to my soul. I cry every time I hear this, as I can relate.

Our Family and Homeschooling Philosophy

I am in my 14th year of teaching and we currently homeschool a 16 year old daughter, and two boys: a 5th grader and a 7th grader. They spent 1 and a half to 2 years each in public/private school -- coming back home this year. Our two oldest were homeschooled through 9th grade, except for one year in our little Mennonite school (one-room Amish-like schoolhouse). They are now a sophomore and a senior at a local charter school that has an emphasis on fine arts.

We use a Charlotte Mason approach to our homeschooling: living books, classic literature, nature study, with development of fine arts, music and culture thrown in.

I'm putting a heavy emphasis on writing this year, as I feel I lacked in that area with my older children.

Math is my weakest area, but with the help of my engineer husband and suitable curriculum, the children excel in math -- in spite of my deficiency.

The younger boys regularly enjoy P.E. classes at a nearby sports center, nature/art class co-op, way too many field trips, classes at a local nature center, instrument lessons, and are getting involved with Science Olympiad this year. Oh, and a weekly Pokemon league! I try to give them at least 2 hours of free play outside daily (as is Charlotte Mason's suggestion).

The teenagers enjoy guitar lessons, film club, thespian club, archery club, chess club, and debate club at their school. My senior is currently looking at colleges with an emphasis in the arts, as he's very interested and talented in those areas, specifically film and directing. My daughter who is a sophomore is interested and talented in the creative arts, design and music, as well as writing.

About Charlotte Mason -- the homeschooling method we use

On Our Curriculum

Some of our formal curriculum is a little too evangelic-y for us, but I really love the format, and the way it includes art appreciation, poetry, Shakespeare, narration, and all the components of a good Charlotte Mason education. So we tweak it to fit our needs, substituting a book here and there to make it a little more well-rounded and not so one-sided. We skip certain aspects of it, adding things in as needed, desiring the children to learn about history from all perspectives, not from only a Christian Evangelical spin. Also, when we're studying a topic, we want to study that topic, not religion and not theology.

That said, I love the open-and-go-ness of Heart of Dakota and it has streamlined my homeschool planning, leaving much more time and energy to teaching and learning alongside my children. And I have always loved the wholesomeness of Rod and Staff (a Mennonite publisher), which we currently use for English and Grammar. Although we are not Mennonite anymore, we still appreciate and consciously envelop some components of our former beliefs and lifestyle. Forever growing and learning...

I'm a 51 year old mother and teacher to 4, and wife of 20+ years to Drew. I enjoy writing, photography, fine art, French and Mid-eastern cuisines, bird-watching, meditative walks in nature, yoga, studying nutrition, and Vivaldi. I've had an interesting spiritual journey and lived as a Mennonite for several years and have had a crush on Steven Tyler since about 1976.